The Erpyngham Retinue. Schools Cirriculum

Answering the needs of schools

Visits by our interpreters to your school can enhance the content of your lessons. We have found by working closely with the teachers we can reinforce practically with the students the theory they have been learning in the classroom.

Our demonstrations can be as large or small as your needs require, from working in your classroom to assembling a complete campaign campsite on the grassed areas of your school. Content can be tailored to your individual needs, this will be discussed at length to ensure we are able to dovetail totally, either over the telephone or if needed during a pre-arranged site visit.

We have given on site talks to many schools some are:-

Horsmonden Primary

The American School

Sevenoaks Preparatory

We have also accommodated with the needs of clients such as National Trust where local schools are sent mail shots by our client. The students will then be able to attend a common site such as Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, the total cost of our services using this method can be reduced to pro-rata amount against the number of students sent by each individual school.

As the Educational system is split up into Key Stages, (KS: 1 through to 4) shown below are the historical areas each year will be expected to be taught. The Erpyngham Retinue are able to tailor their events to assist schools with their needs.

Primary School

KS: 1 years 1,2 and 3, ages (5 to 8), Anglo-Saxons

KS: 2 years 4,5 and 6, ages (8 to 11),

Secondary School

KS: 3 year 7 ages (11 to 12), see below

year 8 ages (12 to 13), English Civil War, Cromwell, Restoration,

year 9 ages (13 to 14), Industrial Revolution and the C.20th.

KS: 4 years 10 and 11, ages (14 to 16), GCSE, nothing Medieval.

The new National Curriculum requires inclusion into the syllabus information based on specific people and events in history and how they shaped the world around them these include: -

The Norman Conquest	The Battle of Hastings	The Doomsday Book
Richard I & The Crusades	The Magna Carta.	John in Ireland.
Henry II and Beckett, Church and Politics	Edward I in Wales.	Edward III in Scotland.
The Black Death.	The Peasant's Revolt.	100 years war
Henry V.	Henry VI, in France	The War of the Roses

A part of the old syllabus was the development of the Castle and although this hasn't been included in the revised version, it also hasn't been banned! Teachers may like to teach it as it has a lot of material looking at the different types of castles built through the medieval age and there are a lot of examples which can be visited.

Especially useful will be the coastal defensive works of Henry VIII and the Gun Platforms of Deal and Warmer in the South East, which could be linked in with other earlier Medieval Sites like Bodiam, Rye and Winchelsea.

Handouts and Worksheets

We will can on your behalf create age specific handouts and worksheets to send to the school prior to our visit, to give you a starting point and to create a good rapport between the students involved. Once at the events a series of worksheets can be handed out, the children can work through these as they progress through the day with us.

Paragraphs of script can be included describing an event or situation with key words left blank, we can thus create two levels of work by giving the words at the bottom to fill in, or getting the children to work out the answers themselves.

We will also have purely descriptive sheets with blank boxes giving the children room to draw in the answers as a form of picture. These can also be available in diagram form as less able children will get more enjoyment drawing than writing and thus they will take more away from the visit if their interests have been sustained all day.

Props

The Arming of a Knight will involve a selection of children, acting as Squires; a set of Jupons with Our Lord Erpyngham's colours can be given out to get the children more involved with the event.